Protective treatment of materials



PATENT orrica.

ABTHUR'ARENT, OF DES MOINES, IOWA.

PROTECTIVE TREATMENT OF MATERIALS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 23, 1921.

Original application filed .Tune 28, 1919, Serial No. 806,928. Divided and this application filed January To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ARTHUR ARENT, a citizen of the United States, residin at Des Moines, in the county of Polk and tate of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Protective Treatment of Materials; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description' of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to protective treatment of materials and especially to treatment of materials for the purpose of reducing their inflammability; and it relates more particularly to the utilization for this purpose of tarry materials such as creosote, tar or pitch, asphalt, and the like, having incorporated therewith a fire-retardant metal compound, more particularly a metal compound, such as a salt of antimony or the like which is soluble in creosote or the like, alcohol, amyl acetate, tetrachlorid or other chlorid of carbon, or other non-aqueous solvent; and to the resultant products. A metal compound which is insoluble in water and which is decomposed by water with formation of an insoluble compound or compounds is particularly desirable for purposes of the present invention.

I have found that materials such as creosote, tar, asphalt, and the like, which are here designated generically as tarry mate; rials for purposes of convenience, may be rendered more fire-resistant and less inflammable, by incorporating therewith a fireretardant metal compound of a class typified by compounds of antimony, anhydrous antimony trichlorid being the most desirable representative of this class of compounds at present known .to me; and that materials treated with the so modified tarry substances may be rendered non-inflammable. For the sake of a concrete disclosure of the invention, theuse of antimony trichlorid will be referred to more particularly hereinafter, but it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the useof antimony trichlorid, the use of which is here described by way of illustration and not by way of limitation.

In my prior copending application Serial No. 306,928, filed June 26, 1919, of which the present application is a division, I have claimed the treated or modified tarry materials aforesaid and the process of preparing Serial No. 441,084.

them. The claims of the present applicaetc., for the purpose of preserving or waterproofing the same. In their untreated condition, such tarry materials inflame read- 11y when heated to a sufiiciently high tClIlperature and burn with great vigor; and wood, paper, etc., impregnated therewith are also highly inflammable. the present invention, modified tarry materials, prepared as set forth in my prior apphcation aforesaid, are employed to impregnate, coat, or otherwise treat combustible materials, especially fibrous materials, and thereby to render them non-inflammable or substantially so.

Generally speaking, the fire-retardant metal compound employed in practising the present invention may be incorporated directly with the material to be fireproofed, or it may first be dissolved in a suitable solvent vehicle such as carbon tetrachlorid or other carbon chlorid, amyl acetate, or the like, amyl acetate having special advantages for the purposes in view. For example, either crude or refined creosote derived from distillation of either .coal or wood, treated by dissolving therein antimony trichlorid in the proportion of 2 pounds to each gallon of creosote, is rendered much less inflammable; and materials such as cloth, paper, wood, etc., to which this treated creosote is applied, are rendered very resistant to fire. When thoroughly impregnated or coated with the preparation, they are rendered non-inflammable. That is, they can be subjected to the direct impingement of a flame without taking fire, even though the flame be directed into contact-with the treated material continuously. The material will eventually carbonize but it will not take fire.

without heating, but moderate heating facilitat'es solution and is therefore desirable in practice. The amount of antimony tri- According to chlorid employed may vary considerably in accordance with the degree of non-inflammability or resistance to fire which it is desired to attain, but the proportions given in the above specific exam 1e are found in this particular case to rendbr the creosote and articles to which such treated creosote is applied, non-inflammable in the sense above explained and to be therefore thoroughly satisfactory.

In treating tar, pitch, or asphalt, ofthe character commonly employed for roofing, the tar is best melted by gently heating, and when it is thoroughly liquefied, antimony chlorid is added thereto with continuous stirring.

The use of antimony trichlorid in the proportion of one part by weight to four parts of the tar, pitch, or asphalt, yields a substantiall fireproof product, that is, a product which will not inflame.

As before stated, the antimonychlorid may first be dissolved in a suitable solvent, and then mixed with the material to be fireproofed. For instance, the necessary amount of antimony trichlorid may be dissolved in amyl acetate, and this solution then mixed with creosote to give a composition of ex cellent character for impregnation of paper, canvas, or the like; or the mixture may be used, in conjunction with other materials, such as pigments,- varnish gums, etc.,-if desired, by painting it or otherwise applying it as a coating composition to materials or articles of any kind which it is desired to coat or protect. Similarly the amyl acetate or other solution of antimony trichlorid may be incorporated with semi-solid or solid tars, pitches, and asphalts, to give fireproof paints or coating compositions applicable for. numerous purposes. All these mixtures confer non-inflammability upon material treated therewith, when antimony trichlorid is present in sufiicient uantity; and the degree of non-inflammabi lity or fire-resistance may of course be varied as deemed desirable by varying the proportions of antimony trichlorid used.

The treated products prepared as above described may be applied, when in liquid condition, by brushing, dipping, spraying, etc.; and materials and articles to which such products have been applied are rendered fire-resistant or non-inflammable as already explained and are included within the present invention.

Subjecting articles coated or impregnated with the products above described, to the action of air, and particularly to the action of water, steam or moist air, has the effect of apparentl oxidizing. the antimony to some extent at least in the exposed outer surfaces or layers with formation of highly fire-retardant basic compounds in the nature of or analogous to basic chlorids or oxychlorids vents miscible with tarry substances, to give solutions or mixtures with which materials can be impregnated or otherwise treated,

and also to the fact that it does not dissolvein water and hence cannot be washed out of material treated therewith, but; on the contrary decomposes instantly upon contact with water, forming insoluble products above mentioned. Other salts of antimony such as the sulfate are ordinarily less desirable because of the possibility of stronger corrosive action consequent upon development of free sulfuric acid; although this corrosive action may be guarded against in the case of either the chlorid or the sulfate by incorporating an antacid substance such as sodium carbonate, lime, or the like with the composition or by washing the finally coated or impregnated articles with a mildly alkaline solution of any appropriate character. Neither is the invention restricted in its broader aspects to the use of antimony salts, although antimony salts, and anti-mony chlorid especially, give in practice results which are markedly superior to even such other metal compounds as react with waterin a somewhat similar manner. What I claim is: V 1. The process of protectively treating materials which comprises applying thereto a tarry substance having incorporated therewith a suitable proportion of a fire-retardant metal compound which is soluble therein or miscible therewith to form a homogeneous product, said compound having the property of decomposing substantially immedlately upon contact with water to yield a waterinsoluble product.

2. The process of protectively treating materials which comprises applying thereto a tarry substance having dissolved therein a salt of antimony that is substantially immediately decomposed upon contact with water.

3. The process of protectively treating fibrous materials which comprises applying thereto a tarry substance having antimony trichlorid incorporated therewith.

4. The process ,of protectively treating fibrous materials which comprises ap lying thereto a tarry substance having a re-retardant hydrolyzable compound of antimony incorporated therewith.

5. The process of protectively treating materials which comprlses applying thereto creosote having antimony trichlorid dissolved therein in the approximate proportion of two pounds of antimony trichlorid to one gallon of creosote, and thereafter exposing the treated material to moist air.

6. The process of protectively treating fibrous materials which comprises applying thereto a protective composition comprising antimony trichlorid incorporated with tarry material in fluid condition.

7. The process of protectively treating ,of about one part of antimony trichlorid to from four to five parts of the tarry material, by weight. I

.8. As new articles of manufacture, materials rendered non-inflammable by association with a tarry substance havin incorporated therewith a suitable pro rt on of a re-retardant metal compoun which is soluble therein or miscible therewith toform a homogeneous product, said compound having the property of decomposing substantially immediately upon contact with water to yield a water insolubleproduct.

9. As new articles of manufacture, materlals rendered non-inflammable by association with a tarry substance having incorported therewith a salt of antimony that is substantially immediately decomposed upon contactwith water.

10. As new articles of manufacture, materials associated with a tarry substance having antimony trichlorid incorporated therewith.

11. As new articles of manufacture, materials associated with a tarry substance having a fire-retardant hydrolyzable compound of antimony incorporated therewith.

12. As new articles of manufacture, materials associated with creosote having dissolved therein antimony trichlorid in the approximate proportion of two pounds of antimony trichlorid to one gallon of creosote.

13. As new articles of manufacture, materials associated with a protective composition comprising antimony trichlorid incorporated with a tarry material in fluid condition in the proportion of about one part of antimony trichlorid to from four to five parts of the tarry material, by weight.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

ARTHUR ARENT. 

